RADIO
Welcome back RotoBallers! Dustin Johnson put on a clinic capturing the RBC Canadian Open (-23) by three strokes. It was his third win this season. He was simply a machine. He tied for first in greens in regulations (57/72), and made only seven bogeys with zero doubles. This was the sixth straight tournament the winner has won by at least two strokes dating back to the Travelers Championship.
This week I will be providing you with my DraftKings lineup picks for the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. My goal as always is to help put together your optimal daily fantasy golf lineups. If anyone has lineup questions before the start of the championship Thursday morning, feel free to contact me via Twitter @SethFinkTV.
Editor's Note: Our friends at Fantasy National have built some incredible DFS Golf lineup tools including a Lineup Optimizer, Stat Engine, Ownership Projections and Course Breakdowns. They are by far the best daily fantasy Golf tools in the industry. Seriously. You can read all about them here and see screenshots.
Also check out Joe Nicely's horse for the course column, and Spencer Aguilar's Vegas report.
WGC-Bridgestone Invitational
The world's best head to Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio for the third world golf championship event of the year. This being a WGC event, there will be no cut. Only 72 players are in the field. All 50 of the world's top 50 will be playing this week.
The par-70 plays to around 7,400 yards. It has four par-3's, 12 par-4's, and two par-5's. The greens are bent grass and fast.
Let's take a look at the stats.
| Stat | Firestone CC (South) | Tour Average |
| Driving Distance | 296 | 283 |
| Driving Accuracy | 49% | 61% |
| GIR Percentage | 58% | 65% |
| Scrambling Percentage | 58% | 57% |
| Three Putts/Round | 0.46 | 0.56 |
Past winners are Hideki Matsuyama, Dustin Johnson, Shane Lowry, Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods, Keegan Bradley, Adam Scott, and Hunter Mahan.
Through the past five years, Zach Johnson has the most strokes gained, 35.16. Rickie Fowler isn't far behind with 33.16. Next is Henrik Stenson, 31.6, Charl Schwartzel, 28.18, and to round out the top five, Rory McIlroy, 27.73,
In Vegas, as of Tuesday on sportsbook.ag, Johnson is the 7-1 favorite. That's extremely heavy for a field of this caliber. McIlroy is 10-1. Justin Rose and Woods are 12-1. Jordan Spieth is 16-1 and Fowler is 18-1.
Stats I'm looking at
With the results, I keyed on the following.
Fantasy Golf Lineup Picks for DraftKings (PGA DFS)
High-Priced Players
There are six players this week priced above $10,000: Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods, Justin Rose, Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler
Johnson ($11,700) - When DJ is hot, it's really tough to go against him even with this high price. He was at the top of his game last week in Canada and that momentum should definitely carry over to Akron. If he continues to split the fairway reach greens in regulation at a near 80% clip, he can't be beat. He's had mixed history at this venue his past four starts: T-33, T-53, win, and T-17 last year.
McIlroy ($11,300) - He's off a strong British Open that saw him finish T-2. He's only played this tournament in full twice the past four years: won in 2014 and T-5 last year. He's a solid play, but nothing I'm too ecstatic about. I think he uses this as a warm-up before the PGA next week.
Woods ($10,800) - The most popular man in golf has won this tournament eight times, most recently in 2013. He's been so close to winning at several tournaments this year including the British Open where he held the outright lead on the back-nine. He's going to compete and be on that first page of the leaderboard come Sunday, but will he be able to rid the jitters and win to complete his comeback? I hope but I'm skeptical.
Rose ($10,700) - After making a birdie on 18 at the British Open just to make the cut, he then had a spectacular weekend finishing T-2. That made it four straight tournaments where he finished in the top-10. He has a strong chance to make it five in a row here. His past five tournaments at Firestone: T-17, T-4, T-3, T-46, T-63. All his stats are good besides for putting and proximity (that doesn't account for the U.S. Open or British Open because those tournaments don't provide the advanced stats), but he put it close to the hole and putted well at those tournaments. He's a very strong play this week.
Spieth ($10,400) - He's had such an up-and-down year. He was playing poorly before the British Open, but then played in the final grouping before faltering to a final-round 76, finishing T-9. He's had strong performances here: 49, T-10, T-3, and T-13 last year. Until he can string together two strong outings in a row, I'm not willing to pay this high a price for someone that has a high chance to finish outside the top-20.
Fowler ($10,000) - He's off a disappointing British Open where he couldn't put together one good complete weekend round. I want to avoid him here because he keeps costing me my money, but I can't overlook him this week on this course. He has the second most strokes gained here through the past five years. He has four consecutive top-10's and his stats are solid throughout. This isn't a major so he will perform well.
Middle-Priced Players
Tommy Fleetwood ($9,200) - I really like the man with the best hair in golf this week. I was skeptical of his chances to win last week in Canada with it being his first strictly PGA Tour event (not an event where players from the European Tour play like the U.S. Open or Players) since the Wells Fargo in early May. I still thought he'd finish top-20 and he did that finishing T-6. After getting re-acclimated to North American courses, he's a threat to take home his first WGC event.
Henrik Stenson ($9,000) - His game is perfect for this course; he can drive it accurately and get it on the green in regulation consistently. He's third in total strokes gained through the past five years here with a runner-up in 2013, T-6 in '15, and T-17 last year.
Brooks Koepka ($8,900) - Surprising miss cut for him last week, but don't read too much into it. Besides for withdrawing two years ago, he was T-6 in '15 and T-17 last year. Through the past 50 rounds, he ranks 43rd in GIR's gained and 60th in fairways gained. But in a tournament where there's no cut, he'll make up for it with a flurry of birdies. Through the past 50 rounds, he ranks 10th in birdies or betters gained and second in that stat on par-70 courses.
Justin Thomas ($8,800) - JT has been a constant high-priced player, but after being cut at the British Open — a tournament he's struggled with in his young career — he drops to sub $9,000? That seems too drastic. He's fourth in my custom rankings, fifth in birdies over the past 50, and first in par-4 400-450 yards. The only bad stat is fairways gained. JT is a bargain this week.
Paul Casey ($8,600) - Another player who seems like their price has dropped considerably throughout the season. The Englishman comes in second in my custom rankings and ranks inside the top-25 in all the stats I'm looking at. The past four times he's competed here, his finishes have improved; T-27, T-17, T-16, and T-5. Plus, he's off a T-7 at the European Open last week.
Zach Johnson ($8,100) - The two-time major winner has the most total strokes gained here the past five years. He has three top-10's including a solo runner-up last year. That's enough for me especially at this price.
Low-priced Players
Kyle Stanley ($7,200) - The big question with Stanley this week is if he can putt. He can put the ball so close to the pin in these conditions, second in proximity through past 50 rounds, but he struggles to putt ranking 34th. Don't expect too much out of him, but if he can capitalize on some birdies here or there, he'll be well worth it.
Emiliano Grillo ($7,100) - The Argentine was cut at the British Open, but should rebound nicely here. This style course will suit his game and the stats prove it (look below).
Daniel Berger ($7,100) - I kid you not but Berger has made only one top-10 this year and that came at the most difficult tournament, the U.S. Open. So why will this week be any different? Last year he was T-17. I also have a gut feeling about him. Not sure why, but I think he'll surprise.
Best of luck RotoBallers and be sure to look out for another article coming next week for the final major, the PGA Championship!
Golf DFS News and Player Outlooks
Custom Stat Model - DFS Golf Advanced Tools
Here are the players I wrote about and their correlating stats with my custom stat model:
Premium DFS Golf Tools and Lineup Optimizer
Our friends at Fantasy National have created some game-changing DFS Golf tools, and you can read all about them here. They are hands-down the best daily fantasy Golf tools in the industry.
